I’ve been patient. I’ve put off writing this letter as long as possible, hoping things would change. I dreamed that this would finally be the year you follow through on your promises.

I can’t do this any longer. Every January, you tell me things will be different. You say this is the year you’ll pay off your car. This is the year you’ll follow a budget. This is the year you’ll let your goals control your finances.

John, don’t you understand how much this is hurting me? I want this for you, not for me. I have always wanted what’s best for you. I want you to take control of your finances so that money isn’t running your life. You have goals. I’ve heard your dreams. They’re wonderful. I want you to achieve those, but you never will until you get your finances under control.

I hope you defeat this monster you’ve created. I hope you reach your goals. But John, I can’t stand the disappointment. I have to leave you. You’ve given me no choice.

It’s not about the money. Financial success is about you achieving your goals, living out your dreams. It’s about living the life you’ve always wanted, for both you and your family. You’ve given up on me. We’ll never have a healthy relationship if you keep living like this

I wish things could have ended differently between us.
Best of luck,

Your Financial Success & Dreams

(Note from Coach Bryan – So what are you willing to do to make your finances or your work-life balance better in 2013? Need some daily motivation about saving money or saving time? Please stop over at https://www.facebook.com/MyFinancialLifeCoach and “Like” the page so you can start receiving daily tips. While you are at it, hit the “share” button on one of the articles and bring your friends along for the ride as well. You will find yourself more successful in saving money and saving time if you are doing it together with your friends. Bryan Cooper – My Financial Life Coach).

What happens when you go into the store hungry? That’s right . . . you buy more. The same thing happens if you don’t have a spending plan. You buy more because nothing is spelled out. So what will a spending plan do for you? A written plan will help you to avoid overspending.

You have a lot of resources to manage.

Take your current yearly household net income (left column) and multiply by the number of years to determine your income during that time period. Below is an example of someone who had an annual income of $70,000. Note that this example does not figure in any type of pay increase over the next 30 years.

Example . . .

_70,000______ x 10 years = __700,000_______

_70,000______ x 20 years = __1,400,000______

_70,000______ x 30 years = __2,100,000______

Now, go ahead and calculate this for your income.

____________ x 10 years = ________________

____________ x 20 years = ________________

____________ x 30 years = ________________

Wow!! You have a lot of money to manage.

Have you ever thought about this before? In the example above this individual will be managing $2,100,000. Let’s put that into perspective. If he was going to build a $210,000 house he would have to have a survey, building plans, permits, and many inspectors & inspections to manage this $210,000 project. If that much planning is needed for a $210,000 house, how much more planning should be done on a project (your financial life) that is ten times larger?

Take a few minutes and think about your finances. The last time you received your W-2 did you ask yourself “where did all of the money go?” It is time to start putting a plan together if you don’t have one. If you have one please take the time to review it. One more thing…a plan is worthless if no action is taken on it so get out there and take some action this week.

You have a choice, and the choice is yours. – Coach Bryan

Thank you for reading the My Financial Life Coach blog where we talk about money, goals, family, life events, spending, and economic news. We do make every attempt to avoid the topic of politics but we will bring up economic policies that need communicated. Our job is to educate and motivate you to the debt-free life style.

March 11

Thought for Tomorrow: When your life is busy and stressful, sleep. Just as relaxation and recreation are necessary to help you recover from a busy day, a good night’s sleep will help you to rejuvenate so that you can be ready to pursue your goals. So why not start the week out right by going to bed on time tonight?

March 12

Time Tip: While delegation is generally a means to efficiency, it can sometimes create frustration and poor results. Be careful to delegate tasks to the correct people, those who understand them and can complete them well. Also be clear as to who has which responsibilities. Accidentally assigning the task to multiple people is a huge time waster.

Money Tip: When you go out to eat, skip the drinks and dessert. For example, say a family of four purchased four drinks at $1.50 each and four desserts costing $2.50 each. If they were to eliminate those items, they could save $16 every time they go out to eat. If they only go out to eat an average of four times per month, they would still be saving $768 per year!

Thought for Tomorrow: There are people so poor, that the only thing they have is money. –Unknown. How about you? Don’t go to work tomorrow just for the money. Go there to meet needs of your customer, and the result will be a paycheck to meet the needs of your family. -Bryan

March 13

Time Tip: While multitasking is often detrimental when doing two or more needed tasks, it can work when one task requires little or no thought. For instance, if you want to listen to music, do it while you clean the house. Call your mother during your evening walk.

Money Tip: Ask for your children’s input on your family’s financial decisions. You will be educating them, and they may even come up with some great ideas you hadn’t even considered.

Thought for Tomorrow: Television viewing results in an upscaling of desire which in turn leads people to buy. Every additional hour of TV viewing per week boosts spending by roughly $200 a year. –Harvard Study

March 15

Time Tip: Work on important tasks when you are more alert. Save more mundane pursuits for the times you are naturally less active.

Money Tip: Heating and cooling costs generally comprise the majority of energy bills. To lower those costs, use appliances that require less energy. Some appliances may cost more initially but will save money over time. Before purchasing one, compare the operating costs over the expected life of the appliance to determine which model is the most cost effective.

Thought for Tomorrow: Want to feel rich? Count all the things you have that money cannot buy. So what you are thankful for tonight?

March 16

Time Tip: When you watch T.V., fold the laundry or clip the coupons. You can eliminate some work while watching your favorite show!

Money Tip: Avoid places where you make unnecessary purchases. For example, if you often buy clothing impulsively, don’t go to a clothing store unless you need and plan to purchase a particular item.

Thought for Tomorrow: You cannot live a positive life with a negative attitude. Are your finances negatively impacting your attitude? Take action this weekend.

Thank you for reading the My Financial Life Coach blog where we talk about money, goals, family, life events, spending, and economic news. We do make every attempt to avoid the topic of politics but we will bring up economic policies that need communicated. Our job is to educate and motivate you to the debt-free life style.

Attitude is Everything!

Attitude is everything in the game of personal finance. About 60% of the folks I meet with have the right attitude, the attitude that they can take action and correct their situation, no matter who caused it. For this post I want to talk t0 the other 40%.

1. The government or my employer will take care of me.

It isn’t wise to allow others who have little or no vested interest in your well-being to have control over your future. I’m not making a political statement here. It is in your best interest to take an active role in your finances, your education, your employment, your health, and your retirement. Being passive or not taking responsibility in these areas could result in a non-positive outcome. You need to take action and own the responsibility.

2. I’ll do something about my situation tomorrow.

You need to DO IT TODAY! Stop procrastinating. Take action. The two main reasons I see procrastination with finances is a) lack of knowledge, or 2) the fear of failure so no action is taken, which results in failure anyway.

3. I don’t need a written plan for my financial goals.

I’m sure you have heard the saying “What is measured gets managed.” It is also true with budgets. Writing it down: a) it keeps it in front of you b) it improves the communication because it is documented, and c) it makes it real because you can read it and touch.

Remember, YOU have a choice, and the choice is YOURS.

Ten years or twenty years from now, will you be saying “I wish I had gotten my finances in order”, or will you be saying, “I’m REALLY glad I DID get my finances in order!” – Bryan Cooper

Thank you for reading the My Financial Life Coach blog where we talk about life, food, family, life events, spending, and economic news. We do make every attempt to avoid the topic of politics but we will bring up economic policies that need communicated.

Next week a number of organizations will be celebrating America Saves Week so it is only appropriate that I start today’s discussion with a savings statistic.

One-third of adults (32%), or 72 million people, report that they have no savings.

NFCC– April 28, 2009

Again let’s reverse how we look at these numbers. 68% of adults do have savings. So more than 2/3 do have a savings. Not where we should be at but a majority are doing it. Let’s look at some quick steps to get started or to improve what you are all ready doing.

4 quick steps to start saving

1. Create and follow a budget

2. Temporarily eliminate a category or two from your budget and instead funnel that money you’re your savings account. Example – don’t buy any clothes for a couple of months. Don’t eat out for a couple of months. If you typically spend $100 a month on clothes and you spend $150 a month eating out, in four months you could stash away $1,000.

3. Sell some things.

4. Use automatic deposits. If money tends to go through your fingers, set it up so a designated amount of each paycheck is automatically deposited in your savings account.

5. Eliminate or reduce expenses in the areas of entertainments, services like cable, internet, or cell phones. Also look at reducing expenses by participating in (FSA) Flexible Spending Accounts.

Take action

They say insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results. There are a number of free resources out on my website (www.MyFinancialLifeCoach.net) to help you get started. Click on the “Worksheets / Other Resources” link on the left side of the page. The first three worksheets are on the website. The last one has a direct link.

Retirement

Retirement: One-third of adults (33%), or more than 74 million people, do not put any part of their annual household income toward retirement.

NFCC– April 28, 2009

Again let’s reverse how we look at these numbers. 67% do put money towards retirement. So how do you start putting some money away for retirement? You will start by following three of the items we talked about when we talked about savings. I’ve listed them below along with a few new ones.

Building a Retirement

1. Create and follow a budget

2. Use automatic deposits. If money tends to go through your fingers, set it up so a designated amount of each paycheck is automatically deposited in your savings account.

3. Eliminate or reduce expenses in the areas of entertainments, services like cable, internet, or cell phones.

4. Reduce and eliminate debt so you have that money available to put towards retirement. (Remember: Debt can keep you broke and unable to retire).

5. Participate in your employers 401K programs.

6. Take a portion of each raise and put it into retirement. Let’s say you get a 3% raise each year. Put 1.5% into retirement. Do this each year and it 10 short years you will be up to 15% participation.

We’ve reviewed some interesting statistics. Unless you want to become a statistic yourself, you need to know what your financial picture looks like and the only way to do that is by investing some time in putting a budget together. So what’s holding you back?

Don’t stop through drive-thru for your morning java, make it at home. Only spending $1 a day for that coffee? A buck a day equates to over $36,000 in 30 years if you save and invest. Are you buying the good stuff ($2.50 a cup)? $91,610. Take 5 minutes and make your coffee; the only thing you have to lose is $91,610.

Here is an article about Christmas shopping I read this morning that I wanted to share; but I want to make a couple of points first.

1. Be sure you stick to your Christmas budget.
2. Shop from a list to help you stick to your budget. Remember, it is YOUR household budget.
3. Don’t bring out the credit cards so you can “afford” Christmas. Do you really want to be thinking about Christmas 2011 in November 2012 as you continue making the credit card payment?
4. Evaluate what you are buying. Do they REALLY need what it is you are buying them?